Tag Archive: Rob Flynn

Hi there! So, I was suddenly very inspired by this song, and had a sliver of time that I didn’t need to use studying, so I thought this would be the perfect moment to write a blog post! So, I want to review the song Take Me Through The Fire by Machine Head, off their album Bloodstone And Diamonds (2014). Here are the lyrics. (Also, much to my annoyance, the recorded version of the song is not on YouTube, so for the video, I hope you can enjoy the live version, and if you want to listen to the recorded version, you can do so on Spotify here). Enjoy!

As I said, I was just suddenly struck by inspiration, and this was because of the guitar riffs, that are just so magnificently great. Rob Flynn sounds like he is in such despair as he gnarls the words “The drum beats on as I fall in trance / Stepping away from the endless dance”. Flynn has a rough, raspy voice through the whole of the song, making it sound more angry. The drum beats makes the song perfect for perfect head-banging and generally this song is awesome to see and hear live, as the audience definitely get carried away. I get carried away just by listening to this in my living room! The steady drum beat almost counting up to the chorus is incredibly effective, building up to the chorus. I also just love the chanting before the bridge to the guitar solo, and of course the guitar solo itself is amazing. This is just simply a well composed, really heavy metal song, just what I needed right now.

“No subtleties truth is all that I askNo pleasantries you can take off that mask”
(Take Me Through The Fire – Machine Head)

Hi there! I just really need to address this matter while it’s still fresh, to get out my initial excitement. So, today (June 3rd 2016) Machine Head published a new single called Is There Anybody out There?, independent from any album (as far as I know). I really hope you enjoy this one. (Lyrics at the end of the post).

There was expressed fear that this song wouldn’t sound like a Machine Head song. Let me give my opinion: This is definitely a Machine Head song. Might sound a bit different than the other songs, but Rob Flynn’s vocals, the heavy guitars and drums and bass are there, the newly heavily incorporated classical instruments are there, like violins and cellos, and the lyrical themes are definitely there, which is the things I think make a song sound like Machine Head, at least these days.

I like the whistling in the intro, it gives a good feeling to the song, even though it’s kind of a false feeling because of the lyrics. But I definitely will get the melody stuck in my head for the next few days, perhaps even the whole month. I love the guitar riffs, especially in the intro, but overall good, and the combination of metal and classical in the choruses is excellent. The bridge and breakdown is great too: “Live my life like I’ll die tonight / Dream like I’ll live forever”. The sound of it is so good – the sound of the string instruments makes it sound like a horror movie, and I think it’s brilliant that they’ve incorporated the whistling in the breakdown as well. Flynn’s vocals are definitely as angry as they should be – raw and awesome.
The lyrics are kind of divided with one theme in the first verse, and another one in the second, and both well written, but still has an overall theme linked through the chorus. In the second verse they address a really important matter in the heavy metal and hard rock community, and really have been brave in publishing this song despite controversy and death threats. It’s about racism in metal, triggered by an incident earlier this year, at Dimebash 2016. The other themes in the song are love, loneliness and not understanding what’s going on in the world (according to Flynn himself). You can go and check out Rob Flynn’s reaction to the incident and the two making-of videos for the song at Machine Head’s YouTube channel (here).
I’ve tried to get the lyrics correctly by listening to it a bunch of times, since it’s so fresh that none of the standard lyric-pages I use have added the lyrics yet. Used my ears as good as I could, and got a little help from a YouTube-video (this one) (I will correct them if I get direct info from the band of the actual lyrics). I’m here, I’m listening, and I hear you. I stand with Rob Flynn and Machine Head.

Is there anybody out there? (x4)Come on (x3)Is anybody there?Come on (x2)

Let me tell you something
I was born as a bastardNo father, no masterA shadow in silence left searching for answersPut up for adoptionAnd left with no optionAnother kid fostered to fester, forgottenTake a look into these desperate eyesAs they’re cast into the wretched hive
But I ain’t going down alone

Is there anybody out there?Anybody listening to me?Is anybody else scared?The paranoia drops me to my kneesDoes anybody feel lonely?Disconnected from the things I seeIs there anybody out there?Anybody out there just like me?I’m choking on these words and I can’t breathe

Come on (x3)Is anybody there?Come on (x2)
Now let me say this

Now I stand as a fatherTo men with no honorAshamed of the racists I used to call brothersCause no flag can mean braveryWhen bloodied by slaveryThe rebel, a devil, disguised as a saviorAnd the sickening feeling in the airIs the fear to speak that no one dares
So will I stand here all alone?

Is there anybody out there?Anybody listening to me?Is anybody else scared?The paranoia drops me to my kneesDoes anybody feel lonely?Disconnected from the things I seeIs there anybody out there?Anybody out there just like me?Choking on these words and I can’t breathe

Live my life like I’ll die tonightDream like I’ll live forever (x2)Is there anybody out there?

I have roared at the world for years(Is there anybody out there?)Doesn’t anybody hear me?This burden suffered, I’ve paid the cost(Is there anybody out there?)Not all who wander are lost
Is there anybody, is there anybody, is there anybody…

Is there anybody out there?Anybody listening to me?Is anybody else scared?The paranoia drops me to my kneesDoes anybody feel lonely?Disconnected from the things I seeIs there anybody out there?Anybody out there just like me?Choking on these words and I can’t breathe

Come on (x3)Is anybody there?Come on (x2)Is there anybody, is there anybody…Is there anybody out there?
(Is There Anybody Out There – Machine Head)

Hi there! After much stress with studying for exams and the exams themselves, and a little breathing room for me, I will now blog about one of the many songs I’ve grown very excited abut the past year. This one is called Now We Die, by Machine Head, which I’ve grown to love more and more, off their latest album Bloodstone & Diamonds; published last fall (2014), first as the second single off the album. The awesome lyrics you will find here. Listen and enjoy.

This is for me a very passionate song, and the album altogether is very passionate, with awe-inspiring lyrics, and musical tunes that will blow your mind. This is one of those songs that make the album. The intro is beautiful, strings fading in and growing stronger, into Rob Flynns muffled screams “And with this now we die”, and haunting the song throughout. The band jumps in, and suddenly everything is heavy as hell.
The verses are heavy, but the refrains are somewhat more mellow, where the strings comes in again with the same sweet melody. The lyrics in the refrain is also more poetic, along with the bridge. It’s big, and it’s beautiful.
This is also the song where the album title is from, in the second verse. Their guitar solos are as sharp and skilled as ever, with great finesse. I’m just throwing out big words to not overuse the word that actually describes my thoughts on this: awesome. But seriously, the string-piece and the solo gave me chills. They STILL give me chills, and the bridge is also wonderful, both lyric-wise and musically. The music video is very bizarre to me, with many elements, and much color and imagery.
This song in it’s entirety is strongly written and performed. There’s a reason why I waited to do this review; I really wanted to take the time to write every thought on this song, because I think it’s THAT spectacular.

“Cast off the shackles of the pastLive in the moment nothing ever lastsNow cross the bridge of sighsAnd with this now we die”

“The damned are we abused and beat,
We’re left for dead, we raise our head
For we are strong, and they are wrong
So scream with me: ‘I do believe'”